Anthro Who's Whoo - bimshwel

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I exist. Best not to say too much. I may not stop.

How long have you been doing art?

I have been drawing pictures since I was six years old, or earlier. As far as "art" goes, probably since I was 20 or so. Then five years later I gave up on art and now I just draw again.

What brought about your interest into Anthro?

I drew what I wanted and by chance some of it could be categorized as "anthro." I did always like that animals, monsters and what-have-you in art could get away with being naked, and not necessarily having any identifying "parts." Culture obsesses over sex and gender, and always has. The older I got the less comfortable I was with having a gender one way or another, and found that I could draw something totally neutral and have it be accepted in a way that I personally never will be, even if people assumed my neutral characters were all male.
I think "anthro" is kind of broad. You draw a human with green skin and a snout and suddenly it is anthro (and can be naked without causing a fuss). The distinction is so minimal I question why it is even necessary. Nobody called Gary Larson an "anthro cartoonist" even though The Far Side often fixated on talking, upright cows, dogs and bears. Although tails, big ears and horns are neat.
 

Do you have a fursona or favourite character? If so, what inspired it?

If I had a fur-sona it would be a rotary telephone or a command line based operating system, or something impractical that the world no longer needs but that nonetheless exists, and also that would be "it" rather than him or her. None of my characters represent "me." I have too many psychological issues and self-imposed repressions for any representation of "me" to be interesting. Also, if I drew someone doing what -I- did, it would be boring. I want my characters to be more interesting than me. The ones I draw a lot (such as the yellow and red imp "nemitz" and the pitiful blue lizard "lope") usually are very happy and proud of themselves. I am amused by how foolish they can look. I, personally, am terrified of coming across as proud or foolish and find smiling uncomfortable.

Who is your biggest inspiration?

Strictly "anthro" wise, at a crucial point, and forgive me if this misses the point of the question, impish monsters in the computer game "Heretic" made me feel more inclined to draw similar things. It had 5 artists so I could not say who was responsible. Video games have lots of great creatures; I loved the concept art for Breath of Fire (by Keiji Inafune, I believe) and other games of the period that would be shown in instruction books or magazines, even if the game itself was somewhat bland in appearance. Shining Force is probably the first that really did justice to its artists' work in-game. I also have enjoyed Andre Franquin's depictions of animals (especially elephants) and Dr. Seuss had a special power with proud, stupid beast-people.

Where else do you draw your inspiration from?

Inspiration can come from anywhere. Artistically I was inspired by my mother, then I was inspired by pigs and sheep, then I was inspired by the Garfield comics that everyone maligns now, then Nintendo junk, then Mad Magazine, then Sega, then bats, then Tintin, then trees, then Viz, rocks, internet rubbish, clouds, fauvism and on and on. You can even take inspiration from things that you dislike or that did not meet their full potential. I hate automobiles but drawing them is good experience.

What are you looking to improve in your art?

I should draw from life more. I should draw flowers. I should draw buildings. I should draw, oh horror, the interiors of rooms. I should draw robots. I should sculpt things.

When do find yourself being the most creative?

When I think I can help someone. Sometimes that person is me. When I make something for someone else and realize they did not care about it, that is the worst, since chances are I did not care either. I have made a few shallow attempts at getting a wider audience by drawing things that did not deeply interest me, and it never goes well. People can tell I do not care. I cannot fake passion. At least if -I- like the picture I know it has some scrap of value to somebody.

What are your future aspirations for your work?

I want to publish my comic book, or print it myself, and also finish one of my longer animations. Getting money would be nice. I want to be satisfied with my own achievement and stop fussing over getting major attention on the internet. That is not going to happen to everybody and it is not necessarily desirable.

How do you battle Art Block?

In fact I do not have "art block." Or maybe I do not recognize it when it happens. When I feel less inspired than I would like, I draw abstract shapes or patterns. Recently I have taken to drawing scenes from the thousands of digital camera pictures I have accumulated in ten years. It helps to have creative pursuits outside of drawing, if you can spare the time. I also write a lot (you seem surprised) and crumpose questionable midis, and sometimes one can help accumulate energy for another.

Any words of advice for other artists?

My biggest criticism of "anthro" artists is that they limit themselves needlessly and take inspiration from too few sources. The internet in general favors fan art and derivative works over things inspired by nature or non-commercial material. Ask yourself: when is the last time you drew something that did not come at you on a video screen first? I recently saw a drawing of a cartoon owl, that turned out to be a Pokemon owl. Would the artist have ever drawn an owl if there had not been a pokemon owl? Why let some video game company decide your subject matter for you? According to wikehhhpedia, there are two hundred owl species out there. The Game Freak artist probably looked at a few to design the creature. Why copy a copy when you can go to the source? Conversely, would deviantart users have cared about the drawing if the owl had NOT been a Pokemon? Why is the brand so crucial?

One last thing. Tell us something completely random about yourself!

I am told that my fingerprints are unique, which leads me to believe they were randomly generated. Otherwise, nothing about me is random! I can explain it all, to a degree. Sometimes I wish I could not.